South’s National Council meets to discuss how to halt IPC applications

South’s National Council meets to discuss how to halt IPC applications

The South Cyprus National Council will meet today, (Wednesday) to discuss the issue of the Greek Cypriots approaching the Immovable Properties Commission (IPC) to seek compensation for properties they own in the TRNC.

Interior Minister, Socratis Hasikos, said that this would not be a simple matter and said that his ministry held its own views on the subject.

The sub-committee of the National Council, composed of differing political strands, has raised the issue of halting applications to the IPC.

Hasikos noted, that it was a matter of funding and that the issue was a complex one. He acknowledged that Greek Cypriots resorted to the IPC out of financial need but that the Council needed to find the cheapest option in order to halt the applications.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the IPC, which was set up in the TRNC, constitutes an effective domestic remedy as far as addressing property claims by Greek Cypriots.

According to the decision of the Court’s Grand Chamber, issued in 2010, Greek Cypriots must first exhaust domestic remedies before resorting to the ECHR in cases regarding issues of compensation for property lost after the 1974 Peace Keeping Mission conducted by Turkey.